Rong Yang

Background

Yang Rong was born in 1956 in Anhui, China.

Education

Yang Rong began his tumultuous career, as did most leaders who grew up during the Cultural Revolution, in the government. With a doctorate degree in hand, he first came to public attention in 1992 as a middle manager in the Chinese Central Bank.

Career

Yang used his connections at the highest levels of the central bank to arrange for Brilliance China Automotive (later expanded to Brilliance China Holdings), based in Shenyang in Northeastern China, to become the first Chinese company of any kind to list its shares on the NYSE in 1992. The listing was for the joint venture with Shenyang Jinbei Passenger Vehicle Manufacturing, a producer of minibuses.

In 1999 the minibus production arm obtained a secondary listing in Hong Kong, and the minibus distribution business was listed in Shanghai. In 2000, Brilliance’s total sales amounted to $760 million. Brilliance invested $500 million in the production of a Chinese-made passenger car and also benefited from a profitable joint venture with BMW of Germany. From this string of very public successes, Yang built a diverse, complex, financial and manufacturing conglomerate, with offices in Shenyang, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Achievements

• In 2001 Yang ranked number three on the Forbes’ 100 Richest Business People list with a net worth of $840 million. This achievement might have marked the beginning of the end for Yang’s business career in China. From this high point, Yang fell from favor with local Chinese government authorities and in November 2002 he was removed from his position as CEO of Brilliance.
  
  As the government investigated potentially illicit financial dealings that Yang was alleged to have conducted with Brilliance corporate stock, the former top-ranking company officer left China for refuge in the USA. In the USA, he spoke to the media for the first time, claiming that his life was in danger and he was being wrongly prosecuted.

Politics

Since this falling-out with Chinese officials, Yang has remained in the USA fighting a legal battle to regain wealth and stock he claims is rightfully his as part of the Brilliance Auto Group (incorporated in Bermuda) holdings. Meanwhile, Chinese provincial officials, angry over Yang’s attempts to relocate BCA operations out of Shenyang as well as by alleged misappropriation of government assets, maintain that the former executive is ‘fabricating stories and trying to mislead other people’ (People’s Daily, 2003).

The company’s troubles hurt Brilliance NY Stock listings, which fell more than 70 percent from their record high of $37.75 in 2000. In 2002, at the height of the scandal, shares traded at $11 in New York, well below the $16 at which they were initially sold to the public more than a decade earlier. On 5 July 2007, Brilliance China Automotive Holdings announced its withdrawal from the NYSE, though it still maintains listings in Hong Kong (www. brillianceauto.com). Not much else is known about Yang’s whereabouts or status.

Personality

His reputation and ability for wheeling and dealing brought him both riches and risks during his career.